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Archive for category nanotubes

You may have already heard of nanotechnology and what these can do to help us in the future. One of the products of nanotechnology is the product known as coiled carbon nanotubes. While the name may sound rather complex, what these tiny springlike objects can do is actually pretty simple yet rather valuable and innovative.

Coiled carbon nanotubes are actually minute carbon nanotubes that are shaped like tiny springs. These are so tiny that each one of these coiled little tubes are actually a thousand times tinier than one human hair.

Production Woes Solved

Coiled carbon nanotubes are now produced in sheets with the help of a hydro-carbon catalyst mixture. One of the problems researchers were faced in the past with these nanotubes was how to produce them in such a huge number without going above a certain budget. With this new method, they can now produce these sheets of coiled nanotubes, and this production method can now be used at industrial levels with a little adjusting and scaling. This can then be used for a lot of applications that people thought were impossible in the past due to the expensive method of producing in them.

Perfect Cushioning Agent

Now that the dilemma of being able to facilitate the production of these coiled carbon nanotubes at a very reasonable cost has been solved by a team of researchers at Clemson University, the next step is now to find ways to put these minute springs to good use. One of the most notable uses that researchers find can best suit these coiled nanotubes is that of a cushioning agent. The first viable idea for the use of this product is as a cushioning device for gadgets that are rather sensitive to shock impacts and for items that will do well with impact protection.

Coiled Nanotubes Testing Results

These sheets made with coiled carbon nanotubes seem to be ideal for use as protective coats for such items that suffer damage with the slightest impact, like mobile phones and other similar gadgets. This was tested with the use of a sheet of coiled carbon nanotubes and the dropping of a stainless steel ball on it. The dropping of this ball on this sheet showed that the nanotubes cushioned the impact and in fact, these coiled nanotubes were even able to recover from such an impact, making them ideal for use as cushioning agents that can protect items from damage when dropped.

Better Than Straight Nanotubes

This idea was also tested on straight carbon nanotubes to see if the coiling of these coiled carbon nanotubes had anything to do with the superior damage protection it provided these items. It was seen that after dropping the same stainless steel ball on a sheet that was made of straight carbon nanotubes, the nanotubes did not recover from the impact unlike the coiled ones. It is therefore prudent to conclude that the coiling of these nanotubes does play a huge role in the cushioning effect needed for protecting objects with. The use of these coiled carbon nanotubes can now be further explored. In fact, talk of using these miniscule shock absorbers in such items like shoe soles, bumpers, and even body armors have already been going on since this discovery.

One of the problems people probably face these days is the breaking of objects that fall to the floor or the damage that small electronic devices get when they bump into hard objects. This is where elastic nanotubes can come into play. There has been a lot of research going on into what nanotubes can be used for, whether these be coiled or straight ones. One of the notable uses that seems to be making itself known to researchers is the use of elastic nanotubes as a cushioning device for small objects and for electronic devices.

Determining Elasticity

Since carbon nanotubes are considered elastic, regardless of their being straight or coiled, they are then considered to be ideal materials for use as cushioning for certain products and for use in certain applications. Researchers are working at finding out just how elastic nanotubes can be and when this is determined, how this elasticity can affect the overall elastic properties of the products that are produced with the use of these composites composed with the use of carbon nanotubes.

Testing and Researching Nanotube Compositions

The testing process that is used by researchers when it came to the determining of the strengths and elasticity of these elastic nanotubes when made into composite nanotube products that are aimed at building things that can be used for cushioning purposes involves the use of different nanotube compositions and one force-constant prototype. Elastic nanotubes that are used in these tests are often investigated for why they may or may not be as elastic enough for what they might be used on. This may include the perusal of structural details like helicity, number of walls, and radius.

Coiled Carbon Nanotubes

One such product of this kind of research, the coiled carbon nanotubes, can be considered one of the more elastic nanotubes around since they do present people with the kind of protection that elasticity often provides. These coiled carbon nanotubes are now being considered for use as cushions or buffers from impact due to the cushioning properties that they possess. These nanotubes have been tested with the use of controlled environments and with comparisons to other similar nanotube compositions, some of which are made not with coiled nanotubes but with straight ones. The results showed that the coiled nanotubes showed more promise for cushioning items than the straight nanotubes that were made in generally the same fashion.

More Research Needed

While research into these elastic nanotubes show some promise, particularly when it comes to the coiled carbon nanotube, more research is still needed before these products can be produced in huge quantities that can be utilized for commercial purposes. Some of the ideas that are being considered as ideal for use with these elastic nanotubes include surface cushioning for small mobile devices, cushioning applications for shoes and protective clothing, and even cushioning uses for bumpers and other car parts. The need for more research is needed to help establish that these nanotubes can indeed be manufactured to be strong enough for a lot of applications that go beyond cushioning small devices like mobile phones and portable electronics or the offering of comfort for your feet in shoe-cushioning applications.

Since carbon nanotubes were discovered on accident by Sumio Iijima in 1991 during another experiment, hundreds of studies have been started and dedicated to achieving a better understanding of the structure of carbon nanotubes.

But why would science expend so much effort on understanding an element that is already being used in the production of materials for space shuttles and strengthening plants, and that is being considered for an array of other uses? Is it possible that there are still mysteries locked within the structure of carbon nanotubes that will open more doors for its use and everyday applications? The answer is: probably.

It’s no secret to the scientific world that carbon nanotubes are changing the face of science—in fact, researchers and scientists are spending more and more time these days developing and discovering new means of using carbon nanotubes to do…well, just about everything. Since 2005, nanotube water has been a hot topic of discussion, although carbon nanotubes have made quite a few other advances as well.

If you have a plant that isn’t drinking enough water to survive, pump it full of carbon nanotubes. If you have a sensor machine that doesn’t detect chemical gases fast enough, make a new one with carbon nanotubes. If you have a car that’s not strong enough and weighs too much to be profitable, rebuild it using carbon nanotubes. In fact, carbon nanotubes are so light, that you could carry a thousand of them in your pocket and not even know that they there. In addition, they’re so strong that you could shoot a bullet from an AK-47 at close range and the bullet would simply bounce back without even making a dent.

Although carbon nanotubes were discovered in 1991 and their implications for science have been deemed many and varied, the use of produced cabon nanotubes biofuel, although proven in some scientific circles, has yet to take hold.

Carbon nanotubes were discovered by accident in 1991, when a scientist was using the arc discharge method of carbon synthesis to create fullerenes. While he indeed created the fullerenes he’d set out to produce, he also discovered the production of carbon nanotubes.

Because of the natural properties, carbon nanotubes are able to be produced in the lab, but also naturally and it is because of their perfect natural qualities, along with their many unique thermal, electric and additional properties that they are appropriate for creating carbon nanotubes biofuel.

What is Carbon Nanotube Synthesis, and What are its Implications for Modern Science?

While the mystery and implications for science surrounding carbon nanotubes in modern science have gained them immense popularity with scientists and researchers in myriad fields. The age old question –what is carbon nanotube synthesis? is quickly gaining ground in modern science as well. And its implications may far outweigh and outreach those of just carbon nanotubes, since this process of synthesis may very well open doors for science and for the use of carbon nanotubes that no one ever thought possible.

Carbon nanotubes are essentially constructed of a lattice work sheet of graphite that is rolled into a cylindrical shape. These carbon nanotubes are feather light in their construction and much stronger than many other properties used in not only nanotechnology but also in electronics, optics, additional areas of materials science, architecture and even the construction of motor vehicles, space vehicles and other materials useful in a wide array of traditional fields of research and modern living.

Carbon nanotubes are also known to have any unique electrical properties and have even been tested and proven as super efficient conductors of heat, otherwise referred to as thermal conductors. It is only their potential to have some toxic properties that has limited their widespread use and distribution for construction and other purposes.

Carbon nanotubes are being hailed as on the best discoveries of the 20th century, and the amazing physical properties of carbon nanotubes have extended their implications for science well into the 21st century as well. But what is it that makes these macromolecules so special and why are scientists working with them on a daily basis? It’s because of their amazing physical properties—properties so incredible that today they are still being disputed and also discovered.

When Sumio Iijima discovered carbon nanotubes in 1991, they were just thin and long cylinders of carbon and it was unknown at the time what the implications of this discovery would be. The physical properties of carbon nanotubes, including their size, shape and ability to be manipulated, yet stay strong, have made them a unique find amongst other macromolecules. Essentially, a carbon nanotube is akin to a sheet of graphite that has been rolled up into a cylindrical shape. What’s more, this sheet is comprised of a hexagonal latticework, making the physical properties of carbon nanotubes that much more fascinating and strange to both scientists and physicists.

With the advances made in science concerning carbon nanotubes and their ability to lower the costs of nearly everything in existence, the question looms ahead: how much do nanotubes cost and is the monetary cost worth the change they would create in the world?

Nanotube production is no small task, it takes a highly skilled engineer with a steady hand to make this powerful, yet delicate little piece of technology, a development that is taking the world by storm and changing everything we know about our limits.

If you’ve heard of nanotechnology, then you know it’s small. Incredibly small. Like an ant in comparison to the sun. What you may not know is that nanotechnology is being developed in many different forms and for many different uses. Developments wrought from nanotechnology are currently being used in a variety of products you may encounter everyday including sunscreen, clothing, wrinkle-resistant fabrics, LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays), scratch-resistant coatings, anti-microbial bandages, tennis rackets, deep-penetrating cosmetics and even swimming pool cleaners and disinfectants.

What can the nanotubes be used for? This highly intricate science has to hold the potential for practical application, otherwise we would simply be spending a lot of energy, time, and money on a science that will never benefit humankind.

Of course, this is not the case and as we start to understand what nanotubes are used for, we start to understand the potential of this particular science.

One of the most impressive and potentially life changing potential for the use of nanotubes is the ability to help the human body transmit nerve signals where there was previous damage. Read the rest of this entry »